More than eighty former political prisoners from former Soviet republics have issued an appeal to the Dutch population to vote in favor of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, a press release published by Robert van Voren, Chairman of the Foundation to Preserve the History of Maidan, states.

The former political prisoners, from six former Soviet republics, who together served more than 500 years of imprisonment, call upon the Dutch to vote “yes” and help Ukraine to make the change from “survival to self-expression, from authoritarian norms to democratic values,” which, according to the signatories, is particularly difficult “under conditions of acute geopolitical threat from Russia.”

On April 6, the Dutch population will be able to vote in a referendum to decide whether to support the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine or not. Even though the referendum is an advisory one, the Dutch government has indicated it will abide by the outcome.

Among the signatories are, apart from 45 Ukrainians, also 23 Russian former political prisoners, as well as 6 Lithuanians, 3 Georgians, 2 Armenians, one Estonian and one Belarusian. Also three former Polish political prisoners signed, including the well-known dissident leader Adam Michnik. The longest term served is 31 years of imprisonment.

The signatories express their concern for the current threat against European norms and values, which in their view is clearly coming from Putin’s regime, and conclude that “national selfishness and everyday pragmatism … are slowly eroding the basic values of European civilization. Without restoring one’s ability to distinguish truth from deceit, it becomes impossible to distinguish good from evil. (…) Evil will reach you everywhere and will make you choose: either to surrender to evil, or to stop it. To a certain degree this is the choice that stands before you during the upcoming referendum.”

Appeal to the Dutch population

March 11, 2016

At the end of the 1990s, the famous European diplomat Romano Prodi said: “We expect Ukraine to give us a clear signal of where it wants to be – with EU or with Russia. We will respect any decision.”

Since then, twice, in 2004 and in 2013-14, Ukraine gave strong signals of its desire to integrate into Europe. Those signals were so strong, that they raised tough questions about the identity of Europe itself and its values.

Why does The Netherlands then doubt today?

One of the reasons can be found in Ukraine itself. It turned out that to fight for the values is much easier than to live in accordance with them. Probably everyone knows it from his own experience. To move the focus from survival to self-expression, from authoritarian norms to democratic values, under conditions of acute geopolitical threat from Russia is difficult. Europe is beginning to experience similar difficulties, while facing the challenge of a stream of refugees.

So, Ukraine needs time, and it would be a shame if it would be deprived of the chance to acquire European values with a Dutch “No.”

The second reason is related to you, to the citizens of the European Community, and to your ability to find the truth. In the present circumstances, this task has at least three aspects.

The Putin regime has made its choice and is trying to restore the imperial idea of a strong Russia. Russia has indeed greatness and strength, but Putin is looking for it in the wrong place. Actually he is destroying Russia’s greatness, because he relies on aggression, military occupation of other countries, violations of the international order, disinformation and hate speech. Therefore Putin is not Russia, and neither were Brezhnev, Stalin and Lenin before him.

Ukraine is not able to compete with the propaganda capacities of Russia, and therefore inevitably becomes a victim of false interpretations. In this sense, Ukraine depends on you, on your ability to distinguish truth from lie. However, at stake is not only the security of Ukraine.

Failure to decode the propaganda construction of Putin regime seriously undermines the security of Europe in its entirety. Only the blind cannot see how great the danger is today.

We, former political prisoners of the communist concentration camps, already at an early age believed in European values and paid for them with our freedom, and some of us with their lives. Today we are concerned about the national selfishness and everyday pragmatism that are slowly eroding the basic values of European civilization.

Without restoring one’s ability to distinguish truth from deceit, it becomes impossible to distinguish good from evil.

We, fighters against Communist regimes, we know that it is impossible to hide from evil in self-isolation. Evil will reach you everywhere and will make you choose: either to surrender to evil, or to stop it.

To a certain degree this is the choice that stands before you during the upcoming referendum.

Signed by:
(name, country of origin and current residence if different, number of years in imprisonment)

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As they said Soviet prisoners. Today we have a new period of Russia like before we had the Russian Czar so as Soviet prisoners you don’t represent anything except having been brainwashed by American and NATO MSM propaganda. Having worked and lived in UA this country has become a NAZI controlled corrupt nation following in the footsteps of Bandera in WW II when his battalion murdered and slaughtered 32.000 Jews at Babi Yar and millions of their own fellow countrymen.
This statement by former Soviet prisoners make me even more convinced that Ukraine should NOT be part of EU. Like already pointed out by EU president Juncker a clear NO in the next 20-25 years and NO to NATO either. Ukraine should clean up its own mess and corruption first instead of making a murderer like Bandera a National Hero.

Euromaidan Press survey

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